Southern Illinois Transfer Orders Harbor Tug

Barbour JB Shipyard of St. Louis has laid the keel for a new harbor tug that will be powered by Veth Z-drives. The purchase agreement was signed at the Inland Marine Expo, St. Louis, by Kurt Johnson, Southern Illinois Transfer president and owner of the vessel; Guido Davids, Veth Propulsion area sales manager; and Tim Batten, Twin Disc director of global marine sales. Twin Disc is the distributor for Veth Propulsion in the US, exclusive of the Gulf Coast region.

The tug has a planned length of 68' and beam of 28'. It will be powered by twin 750 hp Cummins diesels and Veth VZ-700 Z-drives.

Southern Illinois Transfer, a partner in Barbour JB Shipyard, will use the harbor tug to move barges on the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers. It currently operates seven vessels in the Ste. Genevieve, Mo. area, and is building another boat to expand its fleet. The expected launch is January 2018.